The invention relates to means for holding goods intended for sale , such as knife blades or the like, comprising a stiff sheet-like carrier preferably containing a hole for hanging it, and on which the goods are detachably secured and protected against direct access.
It is know to arrange knife blades for universal knifes for self-service sales points side-by-side or superimposed on stiff sheet-like carriers such as sheets of card, and to secure them to this carrier with the help of a transparent plastics film which is applied over the carrier for this purpose and tensioned. In such an arrangement it is, however, a drawback that to remove individual blades the holding means which also serve as the pack must be destroyed so that the blades can be removed from the holding means between the carrier and the plastics film stretched over it. Frequently the plastics film sticks in particular to the knife blades so that the removal of the blades from the holding means is troublesome. In fact the individual knife blades are also frequently not freely accessible even after destruction of the holding means or they are no longer held so at all that they can lie around unchecked.
It is also known to mount goods intended for sale, such as knife blades, in a dispenser which is secured with the aid of rivets to the upper surface of a sheet-like carrier made of cardboard. This dispenser is complicated in its construction. To remove individual knife blades one can move portions of the dispenser relative to one and another, and the dispenser does not need to removed from the sheet-like carrier for this purpose. Accordingly it is possible to remove blades from the dispenser without the device having first been purchased. Such a device causes problems for self-service operations as it allows opportunities for dishonest handling. Added to this is the fact that the method of securing the dispenser to the carrier is relatively expensive.
The object of the invention is to solve the problem of providing means for holding goods intended for sale, such as knife blades or the like, which on the one hand is low in cost and on the other hand does not permit direct access to the goods without destruction of the holding means, yet the authorised removal of the goods and their storage is arranged to be convenient and easy.
This object is achieved according to the invention by means of the kind stated in the introductory part above and having the characterising features of claim 1. Advantageous further features of the invention form the subject of the other claims.
In the means according to the invention the goods intended for sale, and in particular by self-service, are mounted in a dispenser which is of rigid form and which comprises a housing for receiving the goods and is mechanically and detachably connected to at least one portion of the carrier so that when the goods, namely in particular the knife blades are sold, the dispenser can be removed from the carrier, preferably being torn off, and the knife blades are removed individually from the dispenser as required. With this aim in mind the dispenser is preferably arranged in an opening in the carrier, portions of the carrier engaging at least at one point mechanically in the housing of the dispenser so that the dispenser is mechanically connected to the sheet-like carrier for selling and can advantageously only be removed from it by destruction of the carrier. The dispenser is simultaneously a sales pack and a use pack for the goods and is securely retained on the carrier without additional means such as skin films or blisters.
According to a further feature of the invention the dispenser itself is not only provided with a slot-shaped removal opening for the knife blades but also with a tear-off cover which must be removed before one can remove the knife blades, for example by sliding them out of the dispenser with a thumb or a finger. This is an effective protection against unauthorised removal of individual blades from the carrier while it is still secured to the holding means and not yet sold. In addition the cover protects the knife blades in the dispenser from environmental factors so that they will not corrode e.g. rust, prematurely. In known holding means with skin packs comprising a plastics film stretched over a sheet-like carrier the tendency of the knife blades packed in that way to rust is a major problem.
According to another feature of the invention the housing of the dispenser is made in two parts which not only contain the goods for sale such as the knife blades and a spring urging the blades towards the removal position, but also achieve a mechanical connection to the sheet-like carrier, so that it is possible in a simple and economical manner to mount the housing on the carrier in such a way that portions of the carrier engage in the housing and in fact webs remaining on the carrier in the region of the receiving opening can pass right through the housing.
In this way the dispenser, without having to be covered over by a protective film, can be connected to the carrier in such a way that detachment of the dispenser from the carrier is only possible by destroying the carrier, and likewise the goods can only be removed from the dispenser if the latter has been partially destroyed, namely in that the tear-off cover provided on it has been removed.
By virtue of the invention there has been provided a sales aid, particularly suitable for knife blades, and suitable in particular for self-service sales points, and which achieves a convenient possibility for removal of the goods sold, while at the same time making it impossible for the goods to be removed from the holding means without authority, i.e. without prior purchase.